Yesterday evening I rewarded myself for a day well-spent (crossed everything off my to do list except a trip to Home Depot for something I didn't really need anyway) by opening a bottle of one of my favorite wines of all times, a Montemaggiore Syrah. http://www.montemaggiore.com/
Most likely you've never heard of this winery. It's a tiny little hillside vinyard in Sonoma County, run by husband/wife team Vince and Lise Ciolino. He runs the vinyard. She's the wine-maker. I stumbled upon the Ciolinos' delectable wine during a 2005 trip to Celadon, a swank little Napa restaurant, where a waiter recommended it. I haven't been without a bottle or three in my wine rack since.
I love a good syrah. But Montemaggiore's syrah is more. Full of jammy flavor, yet Montemaggiore is smooth, deep and lingering as a dark chocolate truffle. I attribute it to biodynamic farming, which is something like turbo-charged organic farming. Without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or other practices that leave a noticible trace on the flavor of traditionally-crafted wines, Montemaggiore is the pure essence of a well-crafted syrah and not more.
I'm not going to give you the low-down on biodynamic farming. You can read about it here if you want to: http://www.biodynamics.com/biodynamics.html
And I want to share this wonderful list of wineries whose wine is biodynamically produced. I guess I'll have to plan yet another trip to wine country to check some of these out. http://www.forkandbottle.com/wine/biodynamic_producers.htm.
Hi Sandy,
ReplyDeleteWow - you've been busy! I very much like your blog! I voted for an analysis of "organic" versus "local" produce to learn more about. Especially since this is the time of year where we can really get out to the local farmers' markets and support local farmers who are attempting to make a living farming organically. Also, I've been reading about how foods labeled "organic" are being bought up by larger corporations and now there could be some question as to the labeling as well as the actual content of the food products they are claiming are still organic. After all, the bottom line of the large corporations is profit and the local growers provide healthy fruits and veggies without involving shipping out of season produce across the country. There is an interesting web site I think you might find very interesting: http://www.mercola.com/ This is a doctor who writes articles about a lot of the mainstream medical community and also suggests means of eating to promote health rather than end up taking medicines that the pharmaceutical companies promote. He suggests that vitamin D from responsible daily exposure to natural light is instrumental in prevention of numerous health problems, even cancer. Thought you might find it interesting... I'll definitely keep checking out your blog - loved it!!
Sandie